House burns down overnight in north Nanaimo

Nanaimo Fire Rescue crews were called to the 4100 block of the Orchard Circle at 11:50 p.m. Saturday and arrived to a fully involved fire.

Captain Mike Rispin said the house was unoccupied and didn’t have any furniture inside; neighbours said the previous tenants had just moved out a few days ago.

Rispin said with one house ablaze, the priority for firefighters was to protect the house next door. It sustained heat damage to one side as well as a broken window, but was saved. The house on the other side was farther from the fire and was not damaged.

Rispin said a power line was down when crews arrived, which hampered firefighters’ access to the property.

Security was called in to watch over the scene until Nanaimo Fire Rescue can investigate of the cause of the fire.